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Renaissance Part Two
Standard disclaimer applies.
mbsilvana@yahoo.com


    Ah, something always is my crime
    Um, my miserable heart is sorrowful
    Seriously, even if it becomes sorry to leave it idle
    Only if a man becomes old a day before yesterday
    A melancholy frightened voice, a cool eye
    That is the form of my spirit
               Otome Ranman (Maiden of a Thousand Orchids) - Nuriko

Some Difficult Choices

Ryuuen breezed into her house later then usual, prepared for the lecture her
father would give her. Her father was a very kind man, but a little too inclined
to worry for her liking. She understood his reasons for being fiercely
protective of his family, but that didn’t do mean much to her when he tried to
rein her in. She was a free spirit, and no one was going to tell her what to do.

"Tadaima!" she announced, kicking her shoes off and preparing herself for the
lecture she was positive she was going to get.

Her father quickly hurried into the room, looking at his oldest child with
resigned exasperation. "I thought I told you not to wander off on your own," he
said wearily, his voice that of a parent who knew his words would go unheeded.

She shrugged. "I’m seventeen years old, otouchan," she said. "Quite old enough
to take care of myself. Besides, I had Kirin with me."

"That’s another thing. You ARE seventeen- you should be married and starting
your own family, not running around like a street rat. Look at how you’re
dressed! Most people wouldn’t even guess that you’re a girl."

"That’s the general idea," Ryuuen answered dryly. "It’s impossible to do
anything in one of those hideous dresses you and kaasan keep trying to get me to
wear. Besides, most people see a woman and automatically start assuming
helplessness. And the one thing I’m not is helpless."

Her father sighed. "You’re too much like your uncle," he said sadly, though
Ryuuen didn’t listen to the tone, only the words.

"I WANT to be like Uncle Nuriko! He was a great warrior, and a Seishi! I want
people to admire and respect me the way they do him! If I was a male, I’d
already be in the Army by now!" she said rather irritably. "But since I’m a
girl, I’m suppose to wait for someone to marry me, and then start having a dozen
children! I don’t want that!!"

"What do you want, Ryuuen?" her father asked.

"I want..." she trailed off, then turned and left the room, unable to give him
an answer.

Rokou watched his oldest daughter leave, and felt the ache in his heart. It hurt
to look on her, and it had been a mistake to name her after her uncle. They were
so much alike that Rokou would often have terrifying dreams of her lying on a
cold mountainside, wounded to the point of death. Everytime he saw her smile and
tease her brothers, he was reminded of the first Ryuuen. The Ryuuen who had died
at the young age of eightteen. He could almost see that happening to his own
daughter, and he didn’t like it. She was too much a free spirit, something he
couldn’t control.

With a sigh, he went to his own bedroom, hoping his wife would have come up with
some new way to deal with their unmanagable daughter.

Ryuuen shut the door to her room behind her, listening to the snores that came
from the next door. Her brothers, Shun and Hoshi, the twins, were sawing logs in
harmony, and a faint smile crossed her face as she thought of how close they
were to each other. She longed for that kind of closeness, but the twins were so
wrapped in each other that they hardly noticed their elder sister, and the next
oldest, Lian, was three years junior to her. Still, a secret part of her assured
her that closeness was a dangerous thing, something that could only lead to
hurt.

She started to undo her hair, setting the long mass free. There was something so
decadent about just combing her hair that she did it more then she needed to. It
was her one vanity, and she refused to cut it. With quick hands she rebraided it
for sleep, then slipped out of her shirt and started to unwind the binding that
kept her breasts from bouncing. The bindings were always tight, and gave the
illusion of a flat chest, something that was an added bonus, as far as she was
concerned. With a sigh, she finished, and then slipped into a nightshirt.

Just as she was about to settle onto her pallet, she felt it; an agonizing pain,
one that felt like someone had grabbed her heart and ripped it from her chest.
Unaware that she had, she let out a cry, crumbing to her knees.

Shun barged into his sister’s room with Hoshi on his heels, alarmed by his
sister’s scream. "Oneesan?" he asked worriedly, looking at her pale, sweatt-
covered face. "Aniki, get tousan!" he said, but his twin, using the strange bond
twins always seemed to have, was already on his way, sensing the urgency.

"Oneesan, what’s wrong?" he asked, his loving purple eyes filled with fear.

"Something’s wrong," she whispered.

"Nani?" he asked.

"I- I-" she stuttered, then let out another shriek. The world was spinning, and
agony throbbed through her every sense- she could literally taste the pain, and
her vision blurred with dreadful images of death. Shun reached out to try to
comfort her, but then he, to, was aware of the pain. The ground below them threw
itself upward, then fell away.

The earthquake lasted for only a moment, but for the brother and sister, it was
enough. Ryuuen curled over on her side, screaming in writhing in torment. Her
brother’s face paled as well, and he hugged her body close to him. He had never
seen her so vulnerable, and there was an echo of pain and fear within his own
eyes as well.

Their father hurried into the room, followed by a waxy-faced Hoshi. "What is
it?" he asked his children.

Ryuuen tried to stop shivering, but only ended up holding onto Shun more
tightly. "There’s something wrong.... a feeling of dread," she said, trying to
find the right words.

Rokou tried to find something to say, but was unable to. His daughter sat
huddled in her brother’s arms, and for once, looked truly feminine and
vulnerable. Even though he was a year younger, Shun was a head taller then her.
Hoshi knelt down beside the pair and placed a comforting hand on his elder
sister’s shoulder, conveying his concern with that gesture.

Rokou stared at his children, trying to understand why he was afraid for them
all of the sudden.

~~~~~

"Do you think she liked me?" Boushin asked his cousin as they once again sat in
his room right before evening meal. It would be later then usual, since the
Emperor had mysteriously been unavailable, and no one ate until the Emperor did.
An annoying custom, to Boushin’s thinking, since it effectively kept him on a
very short leash.

Satei sighed, trying to keep from throttling him. Doing so would be a terrible
example of lesse majestie, and might result in a nice trip to the executioner.
Still, he was tempted. "I guess. I have no clue about that... girl."

Boushin’s eyes were bright as he considered the possibilities. "I never met
anyone like her before! She was intelligent, pretty, and friendly, but not
afraid to stand up for herself! I wish the harem women were more like her!"

"Pretty?" Satei sniffed. "She looked like a boy!"

"You’re still upset that she fooled you!" Boushin said triumphantly. "Trust me,
she’s very pretty... that hair, those eyes- and I bet she has great legs."

Satei turned and stared at his enamoured cousin. "Why don’t you just make her
your Empress?" Satei said sarcastically.

"I think I will," Boushin said firmly.

Satei’s jaw dropped. "You can’t be serious- you just met her! She’s not even a
lady in the harem!"

Boushin smiled dreamily. "That’s an advantage," he said as he picked up a comb
and started to pull his hair up. "I think she’d be one of the few people seeing
behind this stupid bucket-" he said, placing the afore mentioned bucket over his
hair, "and love me for me."

Satei remained silent for a minute. "I agree," he admitted finally. "But she
won’t respond well to being ordered into the harem. She tries to act like a man-
she wouldn’t like all the fluttering and idleness of the other ladies."

"That’s why I don’t order her into the harem," he said, musing to himself. "I’ll
have to court her the way a regular man would." Boushin slid the robe the
servants had laid out for him over is head, glancing in the mirror. "It’ll be
fun, and she’ll be worth it. Do you think we can sneak out tommorrow?"

"We?" Satei asked as he reached out to straighten his cousin’s robe and pin a
loose piece of his long brown hair up. The carelessness Boushin had towards his
appearence was enough to drive him crazy.

"Well, I need a chaperone, obviously."

"And I get appointed to the position?" Satei asked as he began put the finishing
touches on his own outfit. His clothes were smooth and elegant, and he plucked
an imaginary piece of lint off his shoulder, his immaculate appearence quite the
contrast to the Emperor’s more thrown-together look.

"Well, I can’t take anyone else. I think we can-" he began, but was cut off as
the ground shook. The cousins paled, feeling a strange pain in their bodies, as
though something inside was trying to force its way out. A feeling of unease
choked them, and they clutched at their throats, trying to get air into their
lungs. The rumbling halted as abruptly as it started, and the pain fled like it
had never been, but they stared at one another for a long moment afterwards.
"What was that?" Boushin demanded.

"How would I know?" Satei panted. "We should go see if there was any damage."

The young Emperor nodded, and rose with majestic grace. It had always fascinated
Satei how his cousin could slip in and out of roles so easily. His expression
was smooth as he opened the doors and started to glide down the hallway,
advisors appearing out of the woodwork, stammering their confusion. "Please, let
us go to the council chamber to discuss this," he said in a melodic voice.

Satei trailed behind, watching as they entered. When the last of the inner
circle has arrived, he shut the door, warning the guard not to let anyone in for
any reason. Then he took one of the empty seats, one which just happened to be
at his cousin’s right hand. The advisors all knew that the Emperor liked to have
his cousin close to him whenever possible, and had remembered to leave that
chair purposely empty.

"Is there any word? Was there any damage?" Boushin demanded off his advisors.

The first councillor shook his head. "No.... surprisingly little."

Boushin nodded. "Do you think it reached the coasts?" he said, worried about
possible tsunamis. "It was a very powerful quake."

"It wasn’t a natural quake," said Sheng-lao, the High Priest of Suzaku. He was
an old man who had few years left in his life, but the serenity and holiness
that eminated from him made people forget the fraility of his physical form.
"The fires in the temple flared, and I could swear I saw the image of Suzaku
appear in the flames."

Silence met his words. Boushin rubbed a weary hand against his forehead, trying
to find something to say. "So the legend begins to move again..." he murmured
finally. "I wonder what kind of portent this is."

"Not a good one," Satei said, speaking clearly so everyone could hear him. "I
felt a feeling of dread- Suzaku is warning us of something- something we must
prepare for."

"Dread?" Sheng-lao asked. "Why would you feel that? It would be more natural for
it to come to myself, as High Priest, the Emperor, or Tasuki and Chichiri."

"I felt it as well- perhaps it has something to do with the royal bloodline?
There are many legends about royalty being tied to the lands they rule," Boushin
said.

Sheng-lao shook his head. "Satei’s father mentioned nothing of it to me."

"Let’s not argue the point," Satei said hurriedly. "Is there anything we can
do?"

"I will have my underlings start fasts and pray to Suzaku for guidance, but I
believe the best thing to do would be summon Tasuki and Chichiri to the Palace."

One of the advisors who hadn’t spoken yet snorted. "Bah! The two must be dead by
now."

Someone else answered, "It was only twenty years ago, and they were both young
men. I’m sure they’re still alove."

"As am I," Boushin said in his quietly commanding voice. "And they’re on their
way."

The people in the room stared at each other, and finally Satei found his voice.
"How do you know that?" he demanded.

"I just do," Boushin answered.

~~~~~

After a long night, Tasuki rolled over, preparing to climb out of bed. The pre-
dawn light barely illuminated the room, but he didn’t dare light a lamp for fear
it would wake up Arashi, who was comfortably slumbering on her side. With an
almost wistful glance at his wife, he sat up and started to rise to his feet.

A slender hand reached out and snagged his wrist, halting his progress. Arashi
opened her blue eyes and stared at him. "Where do you think you’re going?" she
asked.

Tasuki tried to think up and excuse, but came up blank. "To the Palace," he
admitted.

"Doshite?" she demanded, sitting up, holding the blanket to her nude form.

"I’m needed," he confessed, staring at her with serious eyes. "My symbol
flared."

"And you weren’t planning on telling me?" she demanded, glaring at him angrily.

"I was going to leave a note!" Tasuki said lamely, bracing himself for the
chewing out he knew he was going to get.

Sorrowfully, Arashi released his hand, only to seize him in a tight hug. "I know
you have to go," she whispered. "But at least say good-bye to the children.
Something dangerous is happening, and it’s no fair to leave without telling them
you’re going to be gone."

"You’re not going to try to stop me from leaving?" he asked. Her voice had
remained calm, and he wasn’t sure what she was up to.

She shook her head. "Even if I wanted to, I couldn’t. You’re a Suzaku Seishi,
and I knew I’d have to accept that the world owns you, not me. But when this is
done, I want you to come back."

"Why wouldn’t I?" Tasuki asked, turning around to face her, looking down into
her sad face.

"I don’t know. But I’ll give you some incentive," she said, dropping the blanket
and leaning forward to kiss him. It was a gentle kiss, soft and loving, quite
different then the way they usually acted. "I’m pregnant again," she told him.

Tasuki felt like she had just hit him upside the head with a tree. "Again?" he
asked, echoing her.

She nodded. "About three months."

He smiled happily, then frowned. "I really shouldn’t leave you when-"

Arashi placed a finger on his lips to shush him. "Much as I dislike saying this,
Kouji and the others will watch out for us- and Dokun is old enough to take care
of his siblings. It’s for the child’s sake I let you go..."

He nodded and kissed her. "I love you," he confessed.

Her face paled. It was the first time she had ever heard him say that to her.
Rather then savoring the moment, she knew she’d have to let him go, possibly to
his death. "I love you, too," she said, climbing off the pallet they slept on.
With a strong grip, she pullled her husband to his feet, then turned her back
and started to dress while Tasuki took a moment to admire her curves. She really
was an attractive woman.

"I’ll go wake the children while you finish getting dressed," she said, heading
for the door.

He shook his head. "We’ll wake them together," he said. He pulled on his clothes
hurriedly, then slid his tessen into its holder.

Opening the door, he started to head for Hakurou’s room when he heard Chichiri
cry out, "Daaaa!" After exchanging a glance with Arashi, they hurried down to
the kitchen.

A rather interesting sight met their eyes. Chichiri was standing in the corner
of the room, glaring at their oldest son. Dokun was sitting at the table,
sharpening one of his many knives, with a traveling pack beside him. Looking up,
his shining gold eyes met his father’s matching set.

"What are you doing?" Arashi demanded of Dokun.

He never took his eyes off his father as he answered. "I’m going with you," he
announced calmly, sliding the knife he had been working on into a sheath at his
waist, and setting the whetstone into the pack he had obviously prepared.

"What makes you think we’re going anywhere?" Tasuki demanded, his temper
flaring.

Dokun shrugged. "I felt the earthquake last night. It wasn’t a natural one -more
like some kind of message from Suzaku. And I knew that you’d be heading for the
capital to see about it, so I decided that I’m going to go with you."

"Why would you think I’d be heading to the capital?" Tasuki asked rather
tempermentally.

Dokun’s calm was an interesting contrast to his father’s volatile temperment.
"They’ll be needing the Seishi, tousan," he said.

The three adults exchanged glances. "Nani? How did you-" Arashi began.

"Know that Otousan was Tasuki? It’s rather easy. All you have to do is read the
legends to figure that out, and Chichiri popping up every now and then just
confirmed it. Even if you leave me behind, I’ll follow you. I need to go as
well," Dokun said with conviction.

"You’re staying right here," Tasuki said. "I need someone to watch over your
mother."

Arashi’s eyes flashed at the way he had put it, but wisely kept her mouth shut
to avoid yet another of their infamous arguments. "I’m going," Dokun said
stubbornly. "I know enough about knives to protect myself, and I doubt anyone
would mess with kaasan- she’s too bitchy," he said, flashing an apologetic smile
his mother’s way.

"Go wake up your brother and sister and let us discuss this," Arashi said to
him.

"Hai!" Dokun said cheerfully, bouncing to his feet. "Don’t think about leaving
without me!" he called over his shoulder.

The three adults looked at each other, then Arashi’s eyes grew moist, though she
refused to shed the tears that wanted to come. "It looks like I’ll be losing the
both of you," she said in a pained voice.

"Nani?" Tasuki bellowed. "I’m not taking him! He’s staying right here, where’s
he’s safe!" he protested.

Chichiri wisely kept silent as Tasuki and Arashi prepared for one of their
fights. "He’s going, husband," she said, her voice firm. "Don’t make this any
harder then it is for me. If he says he needs to go, then we must let him. Prove
that you trust his judgement."

"He’s too young!" Tasuki protested vigorously.

"No, he’s not. You were the same age when you ran away to join the bandits," she
reminded him.

Tasuki’s eyes started to water. "Damn it, this is dangerous! I don’t want to see
him die!"

"You think I do!?" Arashi yelled back, her voice rising. "You think it’s easy
for a mother to send her son off to his possible death with the knowledge she
can’t protect him anymore? At least if he goes with you, I’ll know he has his
father watching out for him!" she said.

Tasuki slammed his fist into the table. "Damn it!" he said. "I don’t like this."

"Neither do I," Arashi said, wiping her eyes to prevent showing any signs of
weakness. "You are going to take very good care of him, or else I will take it
out of your hide!" she threatened.

"If anything happens to Dokun, I will take it out of my own hide," he avowed.

Into the kitchen swung the three Kou children. The youngest, Hakurou, was
twelve, and looked just like a dark-haired version of his father, right down to
his sharp teeth. He looked impossibly cute at the moment, wiping tired eyes with
a sleepy hand. Yawning, he was trying to focus on his surroundings with little
success.

Their only daughter, Ryuumi, was the only one to have recieved Tasuki’s
brilliant hair. Combined with Arashi’s bright blue eyes, she was promising to be
quite stunning. At fourteen, her figure was starting to refine with the curves
of womanhood, and Tasuki had already threatened a few of the village boys with
dire consequences if they attempted to get too familiar with her. She had
inherited a more placid temperment then either of her parents, but that still
wasn’t saying much. She had her father quite thoroughly wrapped around her
little finger, though he would never admit it.

Dokun, though, was the true oddball. Not in appearence- no, he looked like an
older version of Hakurou- but in personality. He actually understood what
patience was, something anyone who knew either of the elder Kous would have been
astounded to learn. With a quiet smile, the boy seemed more lost in his own
world of thoughts then reality usually would permit. Luckily for him, he was an
expert with the knives Kouji-ojisan had taught him to throw. "So do I get to
go?"

His parents sighed and Arashi reached out, grabbing him in a powerful hug that
madeTasuki wince to see. "Hai, Dokun-chan. But you have to promise me to listen
to what your father and Houjin-san say, no matter how annoying or trivial it may
seem. Can you promise me that?" she asked, seizing his chin with her right hand
and forcing him to meet her eyes.

"Hai, kaasan. I promise," he said, reaching out and kissing her hand gently.

"Go?" Hakurou asked, snapping out of his sleepy mode. "Go where?" he demanded.

Tasuki looked at his children. "There’s an emergency I have to see to. Dokun-
chan is coming with me. I need you to behave well for your kaasan until I come
back."

Ryuumi nodded, but Hakurou was a spitfire. "I wanna go to!" he declared.

"Iiee," Tasuki said. "I meed someone to look after your kaasan and your neesan.
They’re only women, after all."

Arashi reached out and whapped him across the head. "Baka," she snapped. "You’re
setting a bad example!"

"Itai! Like you’re not?" he asked.

Chichiri sighed. "We had better get going." He unhook his kasa, and to the
curious glances of the two youngest Kous, stepped into the center of it. "Get
on, no da!" he said cheerfully.

Dokun immediately hopped on, but Tasuki hesitated to ruffle Hakurou’s hair and
hug Ryuumi. Then he turned to his wife. "Take care, ne?" he said, reaching out
and brushing a gentle hand against her cheek. "When I get back, we’ll see if
there’s something we can do about how much we fight. I think, after twenty years
of battle, it’s time to call a ceasefire."

She nodded and smiled. "Maybe."

Then he stepped onto the kasa, and Chichiri used his magic, pulling the three
away from the Kou household. By now Arashi’s two youngest were wide awake.
"How’d they do that?" Hakurou demanded.

Arashi sighed. Stupid. They should have done it where no one else would have
seen- now she was stuck making all the explanations. With a groan, she started
to prepare breakfast, knowing she would need it. Silently, she sent a prayer up
to Suzaku for the safe return of her husband and eldest child.

~~~~~

Chou Ryuuen was in a reflective mood.

She had gone around the next day, gathering information, as was her custom,
learning what the current price for bread was, hearing about the butcher’s
infidelity, and generally forming an opinion of the city’s general mood. Ryuuen
had woken early, even for her. She had crept out like a thief, wondering why she
was slinking around like she had done something wrong. Overall, few of the
citizens were concerned about anything major, yet she felt an inexblicale sence
of fear permeate her very bones.

Looking around, she sighed as she went onto the next item of her business. She
had to catch up with Xi-Quan, one of the street urchins. The young boy was one
of her best informants, but managing to find the scrapper was never a fun task.
She had fed word into the proper ears, so now she had to wait for him to find
her. Sitting by her favorite kiosk, she sipped at some mediocre tea, trying to
decide what to do as she kept taking glances to try to find Xi-Quan.

There was an urgency that was pulling at her to do something, but she didn’t
understand what thar something was, and it was driving her crazy. She had driven
a few of her informants crazy with her somewhat inane questions, but she had to
know- somewhere out there was the answer to a question she did not know.

The pain last night had not been fun, yet it had vanished as mysteriously as it
had come. She shivered as she remembered her fear reflected in her otochans’
eyes, but there had been little she could do to reassure the twins. Throwing her
father out had been the hardest part of all- when she heard the door shut, it
felt as though she was beginning the final separation from him, closing him out
of her life. She had known that moment would come, but it still hurt to do it.

With a sigh, she finished her tea, handing the mug back to the vendor. Perhaps
the boy wouldn’t come, though she doubted that. She always paid him well for his
services. Still, there were other things she could be doing, and she decided to
go track down Kirin to see about having him accompany her to a few of the
rougher parts of town. She wasn’t stupid; she knew that one on one, she was a
match for most men, but they could easily overwhelm her with numbers. She had no
desire to be raped. Standing, she stretched, resolving to snag Kirin and...

"Gomen nasai!" a childish voice piped from behind her, and she almost leapt with
shock. Only one person had ever been able to surprise her, and that was the very
boy she had been looking for. "I just got your message, Ryuuen-sama. I hope I
didn’t keep you waiting long!" The boy shifted nervously, his eyes darting
around nervously, and she had the impression that he would run if she so much as
moved suddenly.

Ryuuen shook her head, smiling in relief. "It’s ok. Sometimes messages are
miscarried," she said understandingly. "Would you like something to eat?" she
offered.

At Xi-Quan’s nodd, she ordered a meal for them both, forking over some of the
money she had made from a few merchants who had been interested in hearing about
the doings of Kotou’s Emperor for some reason known only to them. When the food
arrived, Ryuuen looked at the slightly-starved child. "Last night, there was an
earthquake. Do you-" she began, but the child interupted her, raising a hand in
an oddly mature gesture.

"Hai," Xi-Quan whispered. "Sometimes when there is a cold night, I sleep in the
temple, behind the eaves where no one can see me."

Ryuuen nodded, but didn’t criticize. Some might flinched at tbe sacrilege, but
Ryuuen firmly believed that Suzaku was a loving God, one who would understand
the need of a small child like the one in front of her. "And?" she prompted,
forking over a few ryu.

The boy raised shadowed eyes. "I saw him," he whispered, fear coloring his
voice.

"Saw who? I promise I’ll make sure he won’t hurt you," Ryuuen promised,
disliking the way the boy was shuddering.

"I doubt you can do that, Ryuuen-sama. Not even you can tangle with a God and
win."

She looked at him in complete surprise. "You saw Suzaku?" she managed to
whispered through suddenly parched lips. She took a healthy sip of her drink,
trying to gather her thoughts.

"Hai... in the flames- at the same time as the earthquake... and I heard him
speak."

Ryuuen wasn’t about to question the truth of his statement. Xi-Quan had always
been utterly honest with her, and it would benefit him little to lie now. "What
did he say," she asked, leaning in eagerly. She had heard nothing of this yet,
but the Priests were likely to keep something of this magnitude secret if it was
bad news, and from the way Xi-Quan looked, it probably was.

"He claimed there would be a renaissance... that the world would know turmoil
such as it has never seen before. He commanded that the Seishi be gathered, that
Taiitsukun may instruct them again," he said, his voice low and even, as though
he was reciting a sacred text.

"But the Seishi are dead!" she protested loudly, then lowered her voice when she
drew several curious glances.

"I- I’m just repeating what I heard," the boy said with a quiver in his lips.
She quickly forked over a little more money, soothing him considerably.

Ryuuen sat back thoughtfully, trying to remember something. "I wonder..." she
mused.

"Wonder what?" the boy demanded.

She pressed her hands together as she started to think out loud. "Did you ever
hear the legends of the Seishi?" she asked.

"Many times, and many different ones," Xi-Quan answered. "I think we all did."

"It is said that they were each presented with mystical items when the first
summoning ceromony failed. It’s also said that the spirits of the dead are
sometimes attached to items of importance to them..."

"So if you have the item, you’d be able to summon the seishi?" the boy asked
with uncommon perception.

"Hai. But who would know how to bring the spirit forth?" she wondered.

"That’s easy. Taiitsukun."

"But only the seishi can get to see her! It’s a circle," Ryuuen said with
frustration, though a small part of her wondered why she was making this her
affair. She had other things she should be doing.

"I bet she’d make an exception if someone was bringing her the item."

"Probably," Ryuuen said. With a murmur of thanks, she handed the child yet more
money and started for home.

As soon as she was gone, the child ran into an alley. With a slight "pop" there
was a flash of turquoise hair and a cute giggle. Then the being known as Xi-Quan
left the city, never again to walk its streets.

Ryuuen managed to arrive even later then she had the night before. To her vast
relief, he father wasn’t there for her usual scolding. She kicked off her shoes
and headed up to her room, her heart in turmoil.

Part of her was saying that the time had come, that she was about to do what she
was meant to, but a larger part was frightened. She really had no business
messing in the affairs of the Gods, even if her uncle had been a chosen warrior.
She was merely a woman, an uncomman one, but a woman nonetheless.

With a sigh, she entered her room on silent feet, throwing open the shutters of
the windows. Looking up at the sky, she focused on the moon, which was hanging
bright and solitary. The lights from the city were too bright for her to make
out any of the stars, and she wondered why she felt so alone. "What should I
do?" she asked the moon, as though it had the answer for her. Her father would
never agree to let her go on some fool’s quest with his most prized possession.

The sense of urgency she had felt before was slowly awakening within her, and
she knew that she would go crazy if she didn’t respond to the prodding
sensation. So her only viable option was to leave. But it would hurt- she would
be betraying her father, something that there could be no forgiveness for.

Before she could lose her nerve, Ryuuen started to throw some clothes into a
bag. Gathering her small fortune she had earned from various sidelines, she
separated it so it was spread out over her person. With a nervous look around
her, she left, creeping downstairs. She wished she could say goodbye, but that
was impossible.

A feeling of utter calm enveloped her as she entered the family shrine. Here was
kept one of the greatest treasures of the Konan Empire, though few had such
knowledge. Her decision made, she advanced with resolute steps, halting in front
of the altar. Her delicate hands reached out and undid the lock, and before her
eyes shimmered the prize. The Bracelets of Nuriko, Third Seishi of Suzaku.

She had never really gotten a good look at them before. She was somewhat
surprised at how simple they were. They were solid bands decorated with only a
single jewel, and she touched one with a reverant finger. If it would help, she
would seek out Taiitsukun herself to deliver these to her.

Ryuuen had been intending on taking the entire box, but something made her lift
the bracelets out. They were so pretty. Before she knew what she was doing, she
had slid them onto her wrists, and shut the box, leaving it empty. Then she left
the shrine, and started for the city gates. She knew the night watch well- they
would let her leave.

Rokou woke early the next morning, the sense that made him a parent warning him
that something was dreadully wrong. He slipped out of his bed quietly, careful
not to disturb his wife. It was with great uneasiness that he headed for his
children’s rooms. The twins were there, as were their younger siblings. With a
sigh, he pushed open the door to Ryuuen’s room and was surprised that he WASN’T
surprised that it was unoccupied.

With great urgency, he felt compelled to visit the shrine. As he walked in, he
noticed the box that had contained his brother’s bracelets had been moved.
Squeezing his eyes shut, he raised the lid, steeling himself.

It was empty.

"Ryuuen!" he cried, sinking to the floor, tears falling unabashedly from his
eyes. "RYUUEN!" he yelled, waking the entire household with his grief.

Rokou wasn’t sure if he was grieving for his brother or his daughter.






Author's Notes:
Lyrics for part two translated by ChichiriDA and Kaori Sakai; used with
permission.